To End My War
by Foreverwolf
Summary: To know great sacrifice is to know the true cost of Victory. How I pictured the last scene for Season 4.


AN: This is just a short little drabble type thing. Kinda how I picture the last scene to Season 4. Of course, as it's already been confirmed there's going to be a Season 5, I know it won't end this way, but I wanted to get this out anyway. It's been screaming at me for a few episodes now, but I had to wait until closer to the end. Sorry it's so short, but I only have time for shorties these days, and barely had the five minutes it took to write this. As always, hoping for a hanky warning. And reviews! The more reviews I get the longer the next one will be :)

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To End My War.

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"Sam!" Dean shouted. "You know I'll always find you, so stop running!" he ordered, stopping his pursuit even as Sam turned. He could hear Bobby crashing behind them, but knew instinctively the family friend wasn't meant to play any role in this.

"You don't understand, Dean. This, what's happening, there's no other way."

"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded, understanding everything even as he asked. This had been a trap. Sam had lured him out here to finish this battle once and for all, one way or another. His mind shied away from it even as his heart broke. He could see the truth of it in the tears building in his brothers eyes. He felt his own eyes glisten with moisture, but refused to blink, to miss even one single chance at changing the direction this was going. He wasn't ready for this. Not now. Not ever. He felt more than saw as Bobby reached them, stopping a few paces away as though sensing this was beyond him, but being unable to stay away.

Sam closed his eyes in an effort to stop his tears from falling. "You were always the one who could make the tough call, Dean. You looked out for this family, held us together, even if that sometimes meant letting us go. You let me go to school, you made Dad walk away. Each time it must have killed a part of you, taken a piece of your soul, but you still did it. Because it was right, because even apart, it would keep us together. You have to do it again, Dean. You have to make the tough call, even if it kills you."

Dean shook his head as he choked out, "I can't, Sammy. Not this time."

"This thing that's inside of me, it's strong. I can feel it waking, even now. You promised Dad, and you promised me. I don't want this change to happen, but I can't fight it anymore. I need you to save me," Sam begged, knowing exactly what he was asking of his big brother, and knowing the cost of it. "Please, Dean. Protect me one last time. This is so much bigger than the two of us. If I loose this battle now, then it _will _kill you, and the last seal will be broken. This is what Castiel meant by only _you_ can stop it. No one else has the strength to stop me. No one else has the power over me that you do. Please."

Bobby watched as the normally strong and unbreakable Winchester fell to his knees in front of his younger brother, sobbing his denial. He'd give anything to spare Dean the pain of what was happening, but he couldn't. Sam was right. Bobby knew he didn't have it in him to kill the young man he saw as a son. He had watched both boys grow up, been a big part of their lives. He had already proved he couldn't destroy what was left of his family when he failed to pull the trigger after Sam's escape from the Safe room.

This was between the two brothers, as the Angels had always known it would be. Sam's love and devotion to his brother was the only power keeping the darkness in Sam from taking over. One brother raised from Hell, the other the instrument in raising it. It wasn't fair that fate had dealt the boys another blow neither would ever recover from, not after all they had suffered in their short lives. But then, Fate was a bitch that had never learned not to play with her food.

Sam knelt in front of his fallen brother and gathered him in a fierce hug that would normally never have been permitted. "I'm so sorry, Dean. I wish it had been different. I wish it could _be_ different. But I need you now, Big Brother, more than I ever have before. It has to be you. This war has to end with us, here and now," he whispered.

Dean sniffled and nodded, clinging tightly to his brother. "It's my job to look after you, Sammy. I swore I would die before I let anything happen to you. I've never broken a promise to you, little brother, and I never will." Dean pulled back just far enough so that he could look into the brown eyes that had been his every waking thought for as far back as he could remember. "I promised I would save you if it was the last thing I did."

Bobby and Sam both jerked in surprise at the gunshot that rang clear across the open field. Dean forced himself to watch the life drain from his brothers eyes as the Angel blessed and spell ridden bullet made it's way through the heart he had spent his life making sure continued beating. He hadn't had a chance to say good bye, but he hadn't a choice. He had felt Sam's trembling as he lost his battle with the creature inside. The only way to kill it had been to kill Sam while he was still human. Pulling the now lifeless body to him, Dean sobbed his grief and screamed out his anger.

Bobby recovered from his shock. He hadn't thought Dean could do it, hadn't thought Dean was strong enough. How he wished he had been right, that there had been some other way. A flutter of wings and Castiel was standing beside him, also watching as Dean expressed every ounce of rage and pain he couldn't contain.

"You've broken him," Bobby whispered raggedly. "You son of a bitch."

"He made a sacrifice to save the world," Castiel replied calmly. "And Sam's soul is home now."

Time slipped by with no meaning until Dean gently laid the cold corpse in his arms on the ground. Shaking with his emotions, Dean stood and turned to them. "It's done. The Apocalypse is over. Just tell me he's okay," Dean begged.

Castiel nodded. "He is within the arms of our Father."

Dean nodded. "Then it's over."

"This particular battle is, yes. But the war will never be over. There will always be some great evil for you to defeat, Dean. God has work for you," Castiel replied gently.

Dean laughed, though the sound was hollow. "No, Cas. What I did today, I did to end _my_ war. It's over for me. I made a promise to my brother."

Neither man nor even angel had time to move before another gunshot rang out. Bobby watched in horrified silence as Dean's body dropped next to his brothers, gravity pulling down the arm laden with the gun that had ended the Winchester line forever so that it splayed over Sam. There was a deafening silence in the field. Not even the crickets chirped. It was as though time itself had stopped to mourn the passing of two unknown heroes. The full moon was clear overhead, and the stars seemed to shine a little brighter in tribute to two men who had given more than any human could possibly imagine.

It lasted only a moment before the insects began their nighttime calls, and the stilled wind once again drove a light breeze into the leaves of the trees around them.

Castiel turned to the old hunter. "I can bring him back. His fight was not over."

Bobby sighed. "Can you give him back his brother, too?"

Castiel shook his head. "There is a great danger that the evil contaminating Sam would return with him."

Bobby smiled at the two boys he loved so dearly. He would give anything to have them back, especially Dean. The boy who had willingly taken on the weight of the world, had given everything he ever had to give for his family, and who had never asked for anything in return. Until now. His old heart knew the truth of it, though, and knew he had one last gift to give his adopted sons.

"Then leave them as they are. He's earned the right to rest at last. Let him keep his promise."

The End


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